An Unconventional New Partner
by Ginger1280
Summary: When Tsuzuki falls mysteriously ill during a murder case, Hisoka is assigned a temporary partner who informs them that the murders and Tsuzuki's illness are linked. Now with Alistair's help Hisoka has to go through Hell and back to save his dear friend.
1. A new partner

I don't own anything that has to do with Yami no Matsuei, just like I don't own anything else..... drat.....

Ginger: This is my first fic for yami no matsuei, so as with others, I enjoy being somewhat unconventional. If you don't care for anything different, don't read my story, no one's making you. Anyway, enjoy.

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Hisoka felt somewhat strange when he walked into the office he shared with Tsuzuki. But something was missing.

Tsuzuki.

After another long fight Tsuzuki had been hurt, and this time, he was hardly recovering because he had suddenly fallen ill and no one had any explanation as to why. He was in the Ministry's health facilities, sleeping day after day, and slowly, healing.

But in the mean time, he was leaving Hisoka alone.

Hisoka sat down at his desk and found himself staring at the wall. His days felt like a boring routine without Tsuzuki begging for sweets, or giving him a puppy dog face.

"Kurosaki! I've never known you to doze on the job."

Hisoka looked up to see Tatsumi standing in front of his desk.

"Sorry Mr. Tatsumi. I've just been…… tired lately." he said softly. "I'll get my reports in tonight I promise."

"I need you back out in the field Kurosaki." said Tatsumi matter-of-factly.

Hisoka didn't know how to respond at first, but after a moment he muttered: "But I don't have a partner, unless you're going to send me out with Mr. Watari."

"I have a temporary partner for you." said Tatsumi, adjusting his glasses.

"A temporary partner?" he muttered. 'Great, I'm going to turn into Tsuzuki.'

"It's only till Tsuzuki is out of the health facility, your partner won't be here for long anyway, he's only temporary. He's an…. Auditor of sorts…"

Hisoka starred. "An auditor…..?" he asked curiously. Then he thought to himself, 'An auditor of what? I thought that was Mr. Tatsumi's job.'

"It's very hard to explain. But be on your best behavior with him, will you Kurosaki?"

"Yes sir Mr. Tatsumi."

"Alright, he'll be here soon."

Hisoka watched as Tatsumi walked out of the room.

"A temporary partner……" he sighed. "Be on my best behavior. It's not like I'm Tsuzuki and I'm going to get into trouble every moment of everyday without someone watching me."

With another sigh, he turned back to the window and starred at the Sakura blossoms that would litter the ground.

He was so busy watching out the window he never noticed when someone else walked into the room.

"They're quite beautiful, aren't they?" came a soft voice.

Hisoka jumped and whirled around to see a man that was obviously taller then Tsuzuki, tall enough that his head was well above the top of the door frame.

He had smooth olive skin, and short white hair with blue highlights slicked back. His periwinkle blue eyes were framed by a pair of thick, square, plastic rimmed glasses. He didn't wear a suit. He had a an outfit of all black silk. Black silk pants, black silk dress shirt, and a black silk vest with a patch.

"I…. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in." Hisoka muttered, trying not to stare at the patch.

It was a somewhat disturbing patch. A picture of a decapitated skeleton a scroll in one hand, a book in the other, the skull laughing as it's body kneeled in a knightly fashion behind two scythes, crossed over each other and blood dripping off the blades into a large red puddle at the skeleton's knees. The top had the words 'Atrum Nex Viator,' the bottom, 'Perdice Mortis Nuntius.'

"It's quite alright, you did seem quite deep in thought." said the man with a smooth British accent.

" I'm sorry sir, I've just been really….. Preoccupied lately." He muttered, feeling himself tense up, then relax constantly.

The man smiled kindly and walked over to stand beside him.

Hisoka felt his neck crack as he tried to look up at him.

"It's understandable. But Asato should recover in a couple of weeks, I just came here from visiting him."

Hisoka blinked. "You call him Asato?"

"I have known him for about sixty of the seventy years he's worked here. I'm Alistair by the way."

"Alistair? Well, I'm Hisoka Kurosaki,"

"It's nice to meet you Hisoka."

"Where are you from?" Hisoka asked curiously.

"I'm at the top of the European Sector of the Ministry."

"The European sector?"

"Yes, I preside over Europe, Russia, and both north and south America."

"Is that why Tatsumi said you're here doing an audit of the bureau?"

Alistair chuckled a bit. "I just told him that so I could come check on Asato. To be honest I hate paper work. That's what I have Angelica for."

Hisoka starred again. "Angelica? A secretary?"

"No, by book of souls. Imagine all the records in your ministry's library, in one book about eight inches thick, and one of the Gushoshin twins is the actual book itself. Angelica is the book of souls with a soul. She can sort herself and she likes to have an occasional conversation about the weather."

"I should probably be glad I don't have a talking book."

"Well see, that's the difference between your guys and my guys. You see, you only take care of one or two souls at a time. My subordinates, are angels of mass death, my partner Malachai and I are the masters with the most souls under our belts. We take care of war, genocide, and natural disasters. We get the world whenever the death toll reaches over a hundred. We need our records on hand when that occurs."

"Angels of mass death….. So you've seen a lot… haven't you?" Hisoka asked slowly.

"I've taken souls from World War one. Malachai and I took on all of the souls of world war two, so between the two of us we took seventy three million four hundred and twenty two thousand eight hundred and twenty one. Hence why our patches say Atrum Nex Viator."

"I don't even know what language that's in." Hisoka mumbled.

"It's Latin, meaning very worthy deadly messenger."

Hisoka just sighed and put his head on his desk. He jumped a bit when Alistair kneeled down in front of the desk and looked into Hisoka's eyes.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I… I'm fine. Like I said, I'm just a bit tired and preoccupied. That's all." he mumbled, looking away. 'Why is it that I can't feel anything from this guy?' he thought to himself, unable to feel any inkling of emotion from the man.

"Well why don't you take a break and go say hello to Asato? He woke up earlier today." Alistair said kindly.

"I have to finish this report." Hisoka sighed, picking up his pen.

He was surprised when Alistair gently tugged the pen from Hisoka's hand.

"I'll tell Tatsumi that you weren't feeling too well and that I'll make sure you finish tomorrow alright?"

"I don't think Tatsumi will buy that."

"Trust me, I'm higher then the Enma-Diaoh himself. He may rule over the Japanese Ministry, but I rule over all angels of death. Tatsumi's more likely to listen to me then you'd be inclined to believe."

"Are you really that powerful?"

"You'd be amazed. Now go say hello to Asato. I'm sure a visit would help both of you feel better,"

After one small second thought, Hisoka grabbed his coat and left the office.

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"Tsuzuki….. I really need to talk to you, please wake up." Hisoka whispered as he sat at Tsuzuki's side.

After a moment, Hisoka could feel Tsuzuki's emotions start to come through as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Tsuzuki!" he sighed relieved.

"Hisoka?"

"How are you feeling?" Hisoka asked softly, taking one of Tsuzuki's hands in his own.

"Could be better obviously."

"Obviously." said Hisoka with a small smile. "Did you ever work with a guy named Alistair?"

"Of course. He came by earlier and said he's your temporary partner."

"I can't read the guy's emotions Tsuzuki, it's bothering me immensely." he said slowly.

"You won't be able to read him Hisoka. He put up a barrier. Though it's probably best that you didn't feel all of his emotions. Some of his are more twisted them mine. But I promise you Hisoka, you can trust him. He was my only partner that had lasted as long as you and the only reason he left was because the European Ministry demanded him back."

"But Tsuzuki…." he began to protest.

"Please Hisoka. He'll protect you while I can't. He's going to be staying in my room in our apartment for the time being."

Hisoka didn't like thinking about a stranger being in Tsuzuki's bed across the hall from his own room.

"I promise you Hisoka, you'll be fine. And he'll have Suzaku."

"How can he have one of your guardians?"

"She trusts him. She thinks he's handsome too, I think that has something to do with her agreeing to be with him for a little while." Tsuzuki said thoughtfully.

"He just makes me nervous Tsuzuki! The guy claims he's higher then Enma-Diaoh!"

"He is. You'll learn why later on. For now, it's not important. But just trust him Hisoka. For me?"

"I'll try." Hisoka sighed.

"Good now, go home an get some rest. You look exhausted. Besides, you might want to help Alistair get home because he has no idea where he's going."

"I don't know where he is. I left him in the office."

"Then that means he's probably there."

Hisoka could tell that Tsuzuki was getting tired, so he reached over and hugged him.

"Goodnight Tsuzuki. Sweet dreams." Hisoka whispered.

Tsuzuki tried his best to return the hug, but his arms were so weak.

"Goodnight Hisoka." he said softly.

The minute Hisoka stood up, Tsuzuki was fast asleep and Hisoka felt alone again. He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets before walking out of the room, staring at the floor. But he froze when he saw a gigantic pair of black dress shoes that blended in with Black silk slacks. He looked up to see Alistair watching him closely.

"So did Asato wake up?" he asked.

"Yes. And he said you're staying at our place." he mumbled.

"I hope you don't mind."

"I suppose I don't really have a choice in the matter." he sighed. "Come on, let's go home."

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On the way home Hisoka felt somewhat nervous. The man just made him feel uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry if I make you nervous Hisoka." said Alistair sincerely as he broke the uncomfortable silence. "I don't mean to."

"I'm sure you don't, I just….. Have trouble trusting people." he sighed slowly, shaking his head a little.

"It's entirely understandable." Alistair said honestly. "I can be the exact same way."

"Funny, you look like the type that would feel comfortable in any setting." he admitted looking up at the man.

"Quite the contrary. At over eight and a half feet tall, it's hard to feel comfortable anywhere. People stare."

"Were you big as a child?" Hisoka asked, amazed by the man's height.

At that Hisoka felt some emotion come off the man as if he dropped the barrier long enough to let out a ping of remorse.

"I never was a child. I was created as an adult."

Hisoka paused, unsure of what to think. "Created? What are you? A scientific experiment?"

"No, I was created by Lucifer. The creator of Hell. I'm a demon."

Hisoka suddenly felt terrified, his heart began to race slightly, and he felt his blood run cold.

"But I betrayed him long ago. I was created very different from other demons." Alistair said quickly.

But Hisoka still took a couple of steps back.

"I know how Asato feels. Trust me. You see, what makes you human, is not your physical body, but what's inside. I have a human heart. I have a human soul. Essentially I'm human."

"Why would you betray the devil?" Hisoka asked, trying not to shake in front of Alistair. He didn't want him to know that he was scared.

"Because I felt…. Guilty, and sad. I was sent to take a boy who was labeled as a dark soul. But he wasn't dark. He was just….. Very sad, and lonely. He contemplated suicide, that's all. The only thing he ever did wrong was love a family that didn't love him in return. So I felt bad and I took care of him. I protected him for twelve years until Lucifer got angry and imprisoned me. Malachai helped me escape to heaven, and I was granted guardian status. I have one black wing feathered, one white bat wing which says I'm half angel."

"A demon converted to an angel?"

"Well, an attempted conversion. I'm basically shunned by both demons and angels, but loved by the Creator."

"The creator?"

"Mortals give him many names. God, Allah, Kami-sama. We call him the Creator. It just makes sense since he created everything."

"I suppose it does." Hisoka sighed. He took a deep breath and did his best to relax. "You're very different aren't you?"

"I'm the Ruler of the Demons, and the second master of the angels of death. Of course I'm different. I have dual rolls."

"Dual rolls….. I'm lost." Hisoka sighed, sitting against a tree.

"I make sure that demons don't leave hell and hurt mortals. But it's really quite difficult given the true amount of them."

Hisoka just pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead on them. But suddenly he felt something pick him up.

"Hey! Wait! What the hell are you doing?!" Hisoka cried as Alistair lifted him off the ground. He was amazed at how easily he sat on just one of Alistair's shoulders. "You really are a giant." he admitted, gripping Alistair's silk vest tightly with both hands.

"I know. And you truly are tired if you can't walk." Alistair said looking up at him with a kind smile, one very long arm wrapped around Hisoka's legs to keep him steady.

"You don't pick up Tsuzuki like this right?"

Alistair chuckled. "Of course not. Though I can pick him up like a child. Trust me I've seen every side of Asato."

Hisoka then got something of a smirk. "What was one of the most embarrassing moments Tsuzuki ever had with you?" he asked curiously.

"Hmm…. I believe, that was when…. He climbed into my bed in the middle of the night, crying from a nightmare when he was thirty seven." Alistair said thoughtfully as they began to walk away. "It was the middle of the night and I woke up to find a moving blanket beside me that was making noise. I lifted up the corner and found Asato trying to wipe away tears. So I said 'come now Asato, you're a big boy, you shouldn't be crying from nightmares. They're not real."

"Tsuzuki does seem to have quite a few nightmares." Hisoka said thoughtfully. "But that's not really that embarrassing."

"It will be trust me. Anyway, Asato just mumbled apologies. So I sat up, and I picked him up and sat him in my lap, wrapping him up in the blanket. He looked at me and said 'If I'm a big boy, why can you pick me up as if I'm little?' I told him it was because deep down, he was still a child at heart. I said 'only a child has such a sweet tooth, only a child could act so silly, And only a child would crawl into their daddy's bed in the middle of the night, hiding under a blanket because they were scared by a nightmare.' and he just sat in my lap like a child till he fell asleep."

Hisoka chuckled a little. "Only a child would crawl into their daddy's bed hiding under a blanket." he repeated. " I like that answer."

"What's the most embarrassing moment you've had with him?" Alistair asked with a smile.

"I don't know. Maybe the first time we met. We got into an argument over stupid stuff, and it turned into a drinking contest and I passed out and he had to carry me to his hotel."

Alistair chuckled and it shook Hisoka enough that he could feel the vibration in his chest.

"The first time I met Asato he was doing the puppy bit with Tatsumi over lunch expenses." he said. "I think I scared him a bit at first."

"You can seem quite intimidating." Hisoka said honestly, feeling himself warm up to the man. "Do you really have Suzaku while Tsuzuki's in the hospital?"

"Yes. She agrees to come if I summon her for help. She reminds me of my knight Sarafi."

"You have a knight?" Hisoka asked.

"Of course, I am the demon king after all. Mind you she can be a total bitch sometimes." he sighed.

"I bet Suzaku can too." Hisoka pointed out.

"Absolutely. But she's usually that way when she get's over protective. Sarafi's that way because she feels like she'd rather be _the _bitch instead of just _a _bitch."

Hisoka laughed a little. "Sounds like you've got a stubborn one." he said with a smile.

"Sometimes she's just too stubborn. She likes to disobey orders, she's had numerous love affairs, and she likes to bite people occasionally."

"I take it you don't rely on her for protection?"

"Asato would be better protection then Sarafi sometimes." he said with a shake of his head.

Hisoka laughed hard enough that he swayed a little and Alistair had to tighten his grip to keep him steady.

"Careful now Hisoka, you don't want to fall over."

"That's a long ways down isn't it?" he muttered, looking down at the ground. But when he looked up he was surprised to see the house he shared with Tsuzuki in front of them. "Hey, how'd you know how to get here?"

Alistair gave him an intrigued look. "I used to live here Hisoka. Your bedroom was my old room."

"But Tsuzuki said you didn't know how to get here and that I should walk with you so you wouldn't get lost." Hisoka muttered as Alistair gently lifted him off of his shoulder and set him down on the ground.

"Maybe it was because Asato didn't want you walking home alone." he suggested with a shrug. "I couldn't tell you his reasoning behind what he does."

"I don't think anyone could understand Tsuzuki completely." Hisoka admitted, leading Alistair into the house.

It was then the he realized Asato barely had to duck to get inside the house, whereas any other doorway he had to bend over to avoid hitting his head.

"You're why these doorways are so tall." he said in revelation. "And why the doorknob to my bedroom is at chest height for me."

"That's exactly why Hisoka."

Hisoka looked at his bedroom door, then at Tsuzuki's door. It usually went unnoticed, but now that he looked, Tsuzuki's room had a normal size door, he looked over at his room, and realized his door was much larger.

"Are you hungry Hisoka?" Alistair asked.

"Yeah, getting there. Are you?"

"With my size, what do you think?" Alistair joked with a smile.

"I think you could clean out our fridge in one sitting." Hisoka replied with a grin,

"Right you are. Which is why I'm lucky I get paid enough to take care of my eating habits."

"What would you like for dinner?" Hisoka asked, walking into the kitchen.

Alistair followed and looked in the cabinets.

Hisoka starred. The cabinets he usually had to have a chair to see into, were lower then eye level for Alistair.

"Well, how about I make dinner tonight Hisoka?" Alistair asked.

"Umm…. Sure."

"Mind if I make an old favorite?"

"I don't mind at all. What is it?"

"It's called toad in the hole. Don't let the name fool you though," said Alistair quickly, seeing the look on Hisoka's face. "It has nothing to do with toads."

"Then why is it called toad in the hole?"

"I honestly have no idea. Roderick taught me how to make though and it became my favorite."

"Okay, I'm trusting you on this one." Hisoka said. Then he paused, realizing he said he trusted the man for something.

"Don't worry, even if you can't trust me as a person, you can trust that my cooking skills are not anywhere near as bad as Asato's."

Hisoka finally smiled a little. "Alright. Then I let you make dinner, I think I'm going to take a quick shower."

"Alright then. Dinner should be ready in about a half an hour."

Hisoka just turned around and went down the hall to his room. He looked at his bed for a second, then a thought occurred. He walked across the hall and into Tsuzuki's room, and upon inspection he realized,

"This must be Mr. Alistair's old bed." he muttered. "It's way too long for Tsuzuki, and mine is a normal size. No wonder Tsuzuki told Mr. Alistair he could borrow his room."

After a moment he returned to his room and grabbed clean clothes before heading into the shower, wondering about his new temporary partner.

Dinner turned out to be quite enjoyable despite the fact that Hisoka still had no idea what Yorkshire pudding batter was, and while it was called pudding in the first place.

But Hisoka found himself feeling relatively comfortable around Alistair. He got the same feeling's from Alistair that he did from Tsuzuki. Even though he couldn't really feel the man's emotions, he felt warmth and comfort come from him.

After more chatter about embarrassing moments with Tsuzuki Hisoka decided to go to bed for the night, and he managed to fall asleep easily without any worry.

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But in the middle of the night Hisoka woke up with an anguished cry from a horrible nightmare. He was drenched in a cold sweat, and his breathing was heavy, as he tried to stop shaking.

He couldn't remember it, but the nightmare gave him a dark and uneasy feeling. He looked at the window and saw the shadow of the tree branches outside moving in the wind and it just made the feeling grow.

Completely forgetting that it wasn't Tsuzuki in the room across the hall, Hisoka got up and went into the room where he found Alistair stretched out on top of the blankets, still in his uniform, and quietly dozing.

He blushed and turned to walked out of the room, but then,

"Hisoka? Are you all right?"

"I'm sorry, I just forgot for a moment that Tsuzuki wasn't here." Hisoka said turning around to look at Alistair. "I just wanted to talk with him. I'm sorry I bothered you Mr. Alistair."

"You didn't bother me at all Hisoka. Are you sure you're alright?" Alistair asked, sitting up. "I'm here to talk to if you'd like."

Hisoka opened his mouth to say no, but instead he walked over and climbed up onto the bed where he sat cross-legged in front of Alistair.

"So what's wrong Hisoka?" Alistair asked kindly.

"I just feel….. Uneasy about something. I don't know what though." he sighed.

Hisoka was surprised when the dark feeling suddenly disappeared, he felt a bit lighter, and he took a deep breath, feeling peace overcome him.

"I'm sorry Hisoka. I was so tired I let my barriers down." Alistair said softly. "I usually emit the darker emotions, even if I don't always feel them. It's not on purpose. It's just…. An issue I have."

"I think part of it came from a nightmare though." Hisoka said honestly. "I don't remember what the nightmare was, but I know it scared me a bit."

"Was it different from your usual ones?" Alistair asked in curiosity.

"How do you know what my usual ones are?"

"Asato gave me fair warning. But it with certain pasts, nightmares are understandable."

"Do you ever have nightmares?"

"Of course I do. They're usually from when I worked at the death camps with Malachai. But unlike me, you have to worry about the man who caused your nightmares coming back for you."

"Tsuzuki said you'd protect me while he's gone." Hisoka mumbled, somewhat childishly.

"Of course Hisoka. You're very dear to Asato. I haven't seen him make this much progress since I left. Because of you he's finally managing to come to terms with his past."

"Because of me?"

"Hisoka, Asato let's very few people truly get close to him. Usually when he does, he ends up hurt, like you. He may not share everything, but he's getting better, and you don't always share everything either do you?"

"No, I suppose not." Hisoka shivered a little which made him realize that the room was absolutely freezing.

Alistair just smiled and gently wrapped a large red blanket around him. "That ought to help you feel a bit warmer." he said. "Now then, would you still like to talk? I honestly think you should try and go back to sleep, it's been a long day and you look exhausted."

"I don't… I don't really want to be….. Left alone right now." he muttered slowly with a yawn.

"But you do want to sleep." Alistair said with a chuckle.

Hisoka let Alistair help him lay down, and as he rested his head on the pillow he felt himself begin to drift off slowly.

"Get some sleep Hisoka, you really need it." said Alistair softly and he tucked the blanket around Hisoka to keep him warm.

"Thank you Mr. Alistair." Hisoka mumbled. "For letting me stay in here tonight."

"I always did the same for Asato and Roderick whenever they couldn't handle being alone. You're no different child." he said honestly.

Hisoka smiled a little when he felt a very large, but very gentle hand run though his hair, giving him a warm, safe feeling. Before long, he drifted off into a deep peaceful sleep.

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Ginger: Okay, chapter one is up which took me longer then expected. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it, if you did and want me to continue, leave a review, if you didn't well I'm not forcing you to come back now am I, so don't be mean and nasty. For anyone that might have read my code geass fics, Alistair is quite similar to my dear Leon Berkenbridge before anyone knew what he was, but I changed Alistair a bit for this story. But enough of me rambling. If you like it let me know and I'll keep writing, if you don't, I don't need your opinion anyway. Thank you.


	2. Another start to another day at work

Disclaimer: of course I don't own anything.... what else is new?

Ginger: Thanks to my two reviewers and to Jeno, constructive criticism is always welcome. I find that I always try and pack too much into the first chapter so they never come out very good, and you'll notice I jump a lot, so bear with me on that please. Anyway the usual though, if you like this story, leave a review, if I mess something up, just say 'hey, just letting you know you made a small error here,' or 'slow down it's getting too confusing if the story goes too fast,' I will gladly listen, if you just say 'hey your story sucks and it's the worst one ever' keep it to yourself, I'm not making you read this, let alone go on to the next chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

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The next morning Hisoka woke up and found himself still wrapped up in the large red blanket as the sun shone through the window and warmed his face. He sat up with a yawn and rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

"Good morning Hisoka."

Hisoka jumped a bit, accidentally poking himself in the eye a little. "Ouch!" he quickly began to rub his now sore eye.

"I'm sorry Hisoka, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you alright?"

Hisoka felt the heavy weight on the bed in front of him, causing him to sink into the mattress as Alistair sat down and gently pulled his hand way from his eye.

"Let me see. I want to make sure you didn't hurt yourself. Asato managed to give himself a nice black eye when I accidentally scared him one day."

Hisoka let Alistair look at his eye, feeling rather strange to have someone look at him so closely. He shook a little at the close inspection but to his surprise he didn't tense up.

"Not too bad, you're lucky." he said with a kind smile. "But don't rub it though, okay? Asato made that mistake too."

"How'd Tsuzuki hurt himself when you scared him?" Hisoka asked in curiosity, letting his hands rest in his lap.

"He jumped and poked himself on accident like you, but a little harder. But if you want to see something somewhat disturbing yet funny, sneak up on Asato when he's chewing gum. But you have to make sure he's already a little jumpy, so like, if he's watching a scary movie on T.V."

"Why does he have to be chewing gum?"

"It's what happens when he inhales it."

"But that could choke him!" Hisoka protested. Then he paused thoughtfully for a second. " Of course it's not like there aren't times when I want to do that just that."

"This is much better pay back." Alistair said with a smile. "When he inhales the gum, it doesn't go down his throat. And then he starts sneezing uncontrollably. It's basically the same concept when you laugh too hard and milk come's out your nose only it takes a couple of sneezes."

Hisoka starred, then laughed. "You mean……?"

"It was a little disturbing at first, especially because it was green colored spearmint gum, but in the end it was embarrassing enough for him that everyone else just laughed."

"That's so mean!" Hisoka laughed, rocking backwards a little.

"I've done it to him enough times that I know it works every time. Just make sure it's something solid, not like a bite of cake or something. That falls apart too easy."

"I'll have to remember that." Hisoka said with a smile as he filed away the memory in his head for another day. He decided learning that Tsuzuki would be embarrassed by sneezing out a piece of chewing gum would be perfect pay back for certain little idiotic moves.

"Anyway, come now Hisoka, it's time to head to work." said Alistair standing up and tossing on a black coat.

Hisoka sat still for a moment, then he got up, and went across the hall to his room to change into normal clothes. Then he left for the ministry with Alistair.

"So do we have any idea what we're doing today?" Alistair asked as they walked up to the judgment bureau building.

"I don't know." Hisoka shrugged from his comfortable spot on Alistair's shoulder. "But I think I know how Mr. Watari's owl feels."

Alistair chuckled.

Hisoka had begun to enjoy riding on Alistair's shoulder. His shoulders were so large that it made a comfortable perch, and for the first time, Hisoka was the one looking down, instead of up at everyone. But then he got somewhat curious.

"How much do you weigh Mr. Alistair?" Hisoka asked in curiosity.

"Somewhere around 35 stone which is quite massive really."

"35 stone? What's that?" feeling confused as he tilted his head to the side.

"Oh sorry, a little over four hundred pounds, which is quite massive really."

"No wonder you're big enough that I can sit up here."

"My shoulders are a good four feet across. That's why you can fit up there so easily. That and you're quite small."

Hisoka blushed a little bit. "I thought most people over a certain size have deformities." he pointed out.

"Human's do. I was created to accommodate being quite large. It's the only way to intimidate other demons and dark souls that don't want to play nicely." said Alistair as they both ducked to walk into the building. "I do still hit my head a lot mind you."

"Why is that not much of a surprise?" Hisoka asked.

"Kurosaki! I'm glad to see you adjusting to your new partner." said Tatsumi walking up to them.

"He's quite interesting Mr. Tatsumi." said Hisoka honestly feeling himself give Tatsumi a true smile. "And I will admit, it's kinda nice to be the one looking down instead of looking up for once."

Tatsumi chuckled. "Comfortable up there are you?"

"Yeah. I am actually."

"That's good."

"So how is Asato feeling Seiichiro?" Alistair asked.

"He's still sleeping Sir." said Tatsumi.

Hisoka blinked in curiosity.

He had never seen Tatsumi refer to someone as 'sir', to him it was quite odd. After a moment he carefully climbed down off of Alistair's shoulder and stood beside his temporary partner.

"By the way Seiichiro, you do know that if Asato wasn't in the medical ward, and he didn't still have my old bed, I would have no where to sleep, right?"

Tatsumi turned red. "I… apologize Mr. Hadrian. I'll get right on that."

"Well it's a bit late now. Asato asked me to watch over the boy and I'm not leaving until he's well again."

"You… tricked me about an audit, didn't you sir?" Tatsumi asked slowly.

"You are quite gullible when it comes to paperwork Seiichiro." said Alistair with a chuckle. "But now that I'm here, I'm not leaving."

Tatsumi let out a heavy sigh.

"Now then, what are we doing today?"

"A string of murders. But the records are somewhat disheveled due to the library being destroyed for a second time."

"I'll see if Malachai can spare a few of our guys to come help clean up the mess, that way it'll be done faster."

"We would greatly appreciate it Mr. Hadrian."

"I'd ask Sarafi since she's a decent engineer, but if she won't listen to me, she won't listen to anyone else."

"How is Lady Sarafi by the way?"

"She told the high elder to go to hell." she sighed. "Now then, I'm sure Angelica can assist with the files for today. When would you like us to meet you in the board room?"

"In an hour sir." said Tatsumi.

"Very well Seiichiro. Come now Hisoka, let's go check on Asato." said Alistair with a smile, placing his hands on Hisoka's shoulders.

Hisoka just let Alistair lead him away, wondering about the way Tatsumi was acting around him.

"Do you know everyone by their first names Mr. Alistair?" he asked, looking up at Alistair.

"Close enough. Over in Europe we go by first names. Not last so it just seems natural to me."

Just then someone bumped into Hisoka.

"Hey! Watch where you're going kid!" Terazuma snapped.

"It's not like I have much room to move!" Hisoka snapped back, not wanting to get into a stupid confrontation over bumping each other in the hall.

"Why you annoying little…..!"

As he reached for Hisoka, there was a gust of wind and his hand was suddenly blocked by a white bat-like wing.

"I wouldn't go starting anything if I were you." Alistair said darkly.

Hisoka looked up to see Alistair watching Terazuma closely.

"And who the hell are you?" Terazuma snapped. "It's none of your business!"

"I believe it is." Alistair growled.

"Then I'll repeat myself. Who the hell are you?!" Terazuma shot back angrily.

"Terazuma you idiot!" Tatsumi snapped suddenly rushing over. "Are you truly that stupid?!"

"Oh, I guess it would be bad if I accidentally transformed and ruined this building too….." Terazuma muttered embarrassed as Tatsumi grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"That's not what I meant Terazuma."

Hisoka watched in curiosity as Alistair's large mismatched wings curled around him protectively. But he smiled feeling safe and protected, letting himself relax immensely.

"Is that the kid's temporary partner Mr. Tatsumi?" Terazuma asked.

"Yes and he's our boss's boss you idiot!" Tatsumi roared.

"Our…. Boss's….. boss….. What?"

"You're kinda dim, aren't you Terazuma?" Hisoka asked with a grin, peeking over Alistair's wing like a little boy trying to peak over a fence. "He's the second master of all guardians and angels of death and the demon king."

"Which is why you don't push your luck with him Terazuma." Tatsumi sighed.

"I'm okay Mr. Alistair. You can move your wings." said Hisoka. "I can't see where I'm going otherwise."

Alistair lifted Hisoka onto his shoulder as he unfurled his wings before they disappeared but he still had a dangerous look about him and it unnerved Hisoka slightly as he felt the man tense beneath him.

He preferred seeing Alistair as his kind self, not overprotective and angry.

"Weren't we going to see Tsuzuki Mr. Alistair?" he asked, gently tapping Alistair's head.

Suddenly Alistair's demeanor changed and he smiled up at Hisoka who felt himself move as Alistair relaxed. "Yes I believe we were Hisoka." he said, then he looked at Tatsumi. "You're apparently loosing your stern touch Seiichiro. You would never have allowed someone who picks on others to work here."

"I…apologize again Mr. Hadrian. It's just….." Tatsumi looked down at the ground and Hisoka was suddenly reminded of Tsuzuki when he was in trouble and embarrassed.

"You're not in trouble Seiichiro, but keep and eye on that man."

"Yes sir."

Alistair sighed as he looked at his watch. "And now we're running too Late to visit Asato this morning. Might as well get started on work. Come now Tatsumi, let's go." he said turning around to walk to the offices.

"Coming Mr. Hadrian." Tatsumi sighed, then he followed them down the hall.

"If you're so strict, why are you so nice to me Mr. Alistair?" Hisoka asked in curiosity.

"Because he plays father more often then not." said Tatsumi.

"That and I do play favorites sadly enough." Alistair said with a smile as he reached over and ruffled Tatsumi's hair like he was a child.

But instead of looking embarrassed or upset, Tatsumi just smiled a childish smile, which was something Hisoka had never seen before.

"Now then, how did Asato manage to destroy the library?" Alistair asked. "Reverto ut mihi meus libri animus."

"He and Terazuma started a fight with their rivalry." Tatsumi sighed.

Hisoka watched as a book appeared in Alistair's hands.

The thing had to be at least ten inches thick, and it had beautiful green leather binding and a picture of a female figure in golden robes on the front.

"Hello Angelica." said Alistair.

"Master! I didn't expect you to need me while you were in the Japanese district of the ministry." came a feminine voice.

Hisoka leaned forward a bit to realized that the person talking was the girl on the front of the book.

"Well according to Seiichiro, the library's being rebuilt after it was damaged recently." Alistair explained.

"Ah…. What did Asato do this time?" she sighed with a smile.

"We'll leave that for another time Angelica. But for now we need you to be our records."

"Yes sir."

"So… that's your book of souls?" Hisoka asked in curiosity watching the figure on the cover.

"This is Angelica. Would you like to say hello?" Alistair asked with a smile.

"Um… sure."

Alistair held up the book and Hisoka took it in his hands. He was amazed at how light she was.

"Hi there." said Hisoka with a smile.

"Hello Master Hisoka." the woman said with a pretty smile. "Hey Seiichiro, I'm glad you got the boy to stay, he's pretty cute."

Hisoka blushed.

"Ask her about somebody Hisoka. She can show you just about anyone. Even the restricted files." said Alistair.

"She can show me my file?" Hisoka asked in curiosity.

"Of course!"

Suddenly the book opened and pages started flipping past until she came to stop on two pages.

On the left were two pictures, one of Hisoka as a toddler, and one of him before he died. It held his birth, his death, his life before and his 'life' now that he was dead.

"Wow. What about Tsuzuki's file?" Hisoka asked.

More pages flipped past and it opened to Tsuzuki's file.

"Poor Tsuzuki, he really had it rough didn't he?" Hisoka said sadly. But he cocked his head to the side when he found something interesting. He lifted the right side of the book so he could read the page a bit better. "Rank…. Dragon Knight Brigadier? I thought they only wanted him. I didn't think they actually got him."

"He took that place when he destroyed Segantanas. Well not officially. It's been a fight with them. The only reason they don't have him is because I won't let them."

"That's one reason why Mr. Hadrian works so close with us." said Tatsumi.

"Grand Duke Astaroth has wanted Asato for years." said Alistair.

"But he can't defy his king without going behind his back." said Hisoka slowly, wondering what Alistair's response would be.

"Every once in a while he'll pull some little demon out of the woodwork to help him, but most refuse because they don't want a human in such a high position." Alistair explained. "I honestly have no problem with the human part, I just don't want it to be Asato. I've warned Astaroth many times, but if he continues, we will have serious issues. If I can connect one of the lower demons to Asato's illness, which I'm pretty sure I can, I will have his head. I believe he's probably behind your string of murders."

"So, you're here to protect Tsuzuki?" Hisoka realized.

"Absolutely. But I liked tricking Seiichiro into thinking I was doing a bureaucratic audit. I find it amusing to watch him squirm at the thought."

"That wasn't funny Sir." Tatsumi muttered embarrassed.

"Why would I ever do such a thing Seiichiro? You of all people know that I'm like Asato when it comes to Paperwork." Alistair said.

"I suppose you've got a point. With you there's not really any paper work with judgments." Tatsumi sighed.

"Not with the demons anyway. They're easy enough. If it's something small cause someone did something stupid, I send another demon after them. If they personally piss me off, I have their head."

"Nice to know demons are such diplomats." Hisoka mumbled, shaking his head as he was trying not to envision such a friendly man chopping off someone's head.

"I'm better then most. Many of them would rather eat each other over an insult. I give warnings." he said. Then after a moment's pause. "Usually."

"Usually? What was the exception?" Tatsumi asked.

"One of the smaller demons tried to go after Roderick since he was a self trained sorcerer. I killed him without a second thought. Put his head on a pike and put in on my castle grounds as a warning to any other demons who were foolish enough to try and mess with people that were close to me."

"Maybe we should give Terazuma fair warning." said Hisoka.

"Well I wouldn't take Terazuma's head." said Alistair.

"Yeah, but what Terazuma doesn't know can't hurt him." Hisoka pointed out with a tiny smile, getting some very mean ideas in his mind.

"I suppose you have a point." said Alistair with a smile.

Hisoka laughed somewhat childishly and he held on to Angelica tightly as Alistair easily lifted him off his shoulder, placing him on the ground before they walked into the meeting room. For once, Hisoka felt ready to start the day, especially if it meant figuring out how to help Tsuzuki get well and back on his feet.

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Ginger: As always, if you like let me know, if you don't keep it to yourself. The more reviews I get the more I'll continue.


	3. A killer demon and an afternoon nap

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters..... except Alistair. I at least own Alistair.

Ginger: Okay, I"m still working out the kinks in this story. Why everything seems to go together so smooth when it shouldn't, that will all be explained later. And as for the answer to Anne's question about the whole gum incident. I had that happen to me when I was twelve....... My aunt took me on a ghost tour, and it was dark, she touched my shoulder, I jumped and hit my head and inhaled my gum. So yes, it is actually possible to sneeze out a piece of gum. Unfortunately I learned the hard way, it just makes for an interesting point. Like in my other story when Suzaku Kururugi ends up sneezing out a piece of waffle cone after Lelouch shoved an ice cream cone in his face. Comedy is key. Anyway, I'm rambling. As always, if you like it let me know, if you don't, then why the hell are you even reading this chapter? For those of you that do like this, enjoy chapter three!

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As they walked into the meeting room, Hisoka practically ignored the two men talking on either side of him as he flipped through the book Angelica.

"So, pretty much every soul in the world is in here aren't they Angelica?" Hisoka asked.

"Basically. I eventually store away other files that don't need to be kept, like average people. Their files get put in the main vault of the Ministry. I keep important files always." she explained.

Suddenly there was a loud smack and an even louder thud making Hisoka jump.

He whirled around to see Alistair sitting on the floor, a hand to his head.

"Are you okay Mr. Alistair? What happened?" he asked.

But Alistair just growled.

"Think of how tall he is, then look at the door frame." Angelica said with a giggle.

Hisoka looked up at the door frame then at Alistair. "Don't tell me you hit your face on the door frame?"

"Everyone likes to think I'm perfect, but they never had to duck to get through a door!" He growled, kicking his legs a bit like a child throwing a tantrum.

Hisoka couldn't help but laugh. "Well most people aren't eight feet tall which is why most door frames are only six and a half feet tall. How did you not see it?"

"I was looking down as I talked to Seiichiro who I noticed has gone in without saying anything."

Hisoka turned to see Tatsumi in the room with Chief Konoe. He then set Angelica down on the floor and took Alistair's hand, but when he began to tug on the giant, he realized he couldn't budge. So he tugged harder, but instead of Alistair even being lifted a foot off the ground, Hisoka's feet slipped on the carpet until he ended up laying down on the floor, staring at the ceiling, still holding onto Alistair's outstretched hand.

Alistair chuckled as he looked down at him.

"You didn't really think you could pull me off the ground, did you Hisoka?" he asked softly.

Hisoka felt his face get warm as he blushed and closed his eyes. But he let out a squeak when he felt himself being lifted up to his feet, then off the floor. He opened his eyes to see that Alistair had stood up and lifted him up at the same time. He let go and dropped to his feet before picking up Angelica.

"Don't his your head this time, okay?" he said with a smile as he walked into the room.

"I don't plan on it." Alistair said, leaning over enough to miss the door frame.

"You might not plan it, but most things that happen aren't in a person's plan now are they?" Tatsumi asked with a smile.

Alistair paused in the middle of the doorway and tilted his head to the side in curiosity.

"Well that may be so, but that doesn't mean I can't avoid it." He said.

Hisoka jumped up in front of him with a loud, 'BOO!"

"Ack!" Alistair cried, jumping a bit and hitting the back of his head on the top of the door frame.

Hisoka chuckled.

"Now that wasn't very nice." Alistair mumbled grumpily.

"Yes, but you weren't planning on me doing that were you?" Hisoka asked with a smile.

"And I'm sure you weren't planning on this……"

Hisoka let out a strange cry as he was suddenly flipped off the ground as he was lifted upside down, Alistair's large hand completely encircling his left ankle.

"Now this isn't nice either!" Hisoka protested. "And the blood's rushing to my head so put me down!"

"Now you know how the back of my head feels." said Alistair with a strange smile, Then he gently set Hisoka down on the floor.

Hisoka starred up and the ceiling for a moment as he lay on his back, clutching Angelica tightly to his chest while he tried to regain his bearings, his head swimming from the rush.

"When you're done with your nap Kurosaki, I believe it's time to get to work." said Tatsumi.

After a moment, Hisoka got up and took a seat in a chair setting Angelica on the table.

"Maybe I should just leave Angelica with you, I'm sure she'd be happy." said Alistair with a smile. But then he frowned.

"What's wrong Mr. Hadrian?" Tatsumi asked.

"I can't…… I can't sit down." Alistair mumbled turning a little red.

Everyone starred.

"Why not? What's wrong?" Chief Konoe asked.

"He can't…. fit in the chair." said Hisoka giving him a heart felt look.

"Even if I could it'd probably break under my weight." He sighed.

"So then….." Hisoka began.

He watched as Alistair walked behind him, and took a seat on the floor, his legs stretched out in front of him.

"You know, something's kinda wrong when your head is at my shoulders and I'm sitting in a chair." Hisoka sighed.

"Now then, we might as well get to work." said Konoe.

"How many murders have there been so far?" Alistair asked.

"Eight. But they're not your typical murders." Tatsumi muttered.

"There is no such thing as a typical murder." Alistair sighed, laying down on his back, his hands behind his head.

"Taking a nap are you?" Hisoka asked.

"No, I just find it easier to think. Anyway, please continue Seiichiro."

Tatsumi adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. "Anyway, these look more like the work of a wild animal. All eight victims have claw marks all over their bodies, and there are bite marks on their neck where their throat's have been torn out."

"An animal huh? I'm going to guess there were also burn marks on them as well?" Alistair asked almost lazily.

"I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that you have some idea about who's behind these?" Hisoka asked, looking down at him.

"That almost sounds like Machitehew. He has a nasty habit of getting loose and eating people."

"Wonderful, so the question is how do we catch him?" Konoe asked.

"I'll figure that out on my own." said Alistair.

"On your own? We're partners, we're supposed to work together." said Hisoka abruptly.

"Yes well you can't exactly help me with where I have to go." said Alistair standing up. "I'll be back in a little bit, why don't you go visit Asato for a while? And keep Angelica with you please?"

Before Hisoka could protest Alistair disappeared.

"That's odd, I've never seen Mr. Hadrian disappear so suddenly." said Konoe.

Hisoka let out a growl as he picked up Angelica. "Come on Angelica, let's go say hello to Tsuzuki." he muttered, then he headed out of the room.

In the Medical facility, Hisoka sat beside Tsuzuki as he slept.

"He sure is out of it, isn't he Master Hisoka?" Angelica asked with a curious look.

"Angelica, why do you call me Master?" Hisoka asked slowly.

"Because you are my master's partner, and if he gives you control over my files, then that makes you my master as well." she explained.

Hisoka was about to say something when Tsuzuki began to stir.

"Tsuzuki? Hey Tsuzuki? Are you awake?"

"Hisoka? What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Alistair told me to come visit you since he had to go off somewhere." said Hisoka, placing his hand on top of Tsuzuki's. "How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better obviously. But at least I'm not getting worse." he said quietly, trying to force a smile.

"Hey, that's a good sign. As long as you're not getting worse, you can focus on getting better."

"How are you doing with Alistair by the way?"

"I keep finding myself acting….. Different around him." Hisoka admitted.

"That's because Master Alistair doesn't want you to act worried or scared. He likes to distract people till they smile. That's what he's done with you." said Angelica.

Hisoka glanced at Tsuzuki who seemed to be regarding Angelica with curiosity.

"Angelica? What are you doing with Hisoka?" he asked.

"Master Alistair put me in Master Hisoka's command." said Angelica. "But it's not that he doesn't want Hisoka to forget you're sick. He just wants to give Master Hisoka a new comfort zone where he feels he doesn't need to worry so much."

Hisoka let out a sigh. "Considering I've never laughed like a child before, I'd say he's doing pretty well." he said nonchalantly. Then he glanced at Tsuzuki with a raised brow. "Have you really sneezed out a piece of gum?"

Hisoka couldn't tell if it was from fever or embarrassment, but Tsuzuki was suddenly turning quite red.

"Did he really have to tell you about that?" he mumbled embarrassed.

"He also told me you once poked yourself and gave yourself a black eye, and that you used to climb into his bed hiding under a blanket like a little boy."

Tsuzuki was now furiously red and Hisoka couldn't help but laugh.

"One day and he's already done wonders for you Hisoka. It's not often I hear a real laugh come out of you." said Tsuzuki with a loving smile.

"It's not often I let myself laugh period." he pointed out. Suddenly he let out a yawn as he began to feel sleepy.

"You look tired Hisoka, maybe you should head home." said Tsuzuki softly.

"But… I don't want to leave you alone Tsuzuki. I don't get to…… visit you very often." he said, pausing for another yawn, his eye lids getting heavy.

"Well then why don't you take a nap in the chair?" Tsuzuki suggested.

Hisoka stood up and set Angelica down in the chair.

"Hisoka?"

Hisoka felt somewhat childish as he laid down on the bed and curled up beside Tsuzuki, resting his head on the older man's chest.

"I don't mind Mr. Alistair, but I miss having you as my partner." he said quietly as Tsuzuki wrapped an arm around his back. "You need to get better quickly Tsuzuki."

"I'm trying Hisoka." said Tsuzuki honestly. "But I can only do so much."

"I know, I just miss my idiot and his sweet tooth." said Hisoka with a tiny smile.

He felt a gentle rumble in Tsuzuki's chest as he softly chuckled.

"Get some rest Hisoka. You could apparently use it."

"Sounds good." Hisoka yawned. Then he snuggled up close to Tsuzuki and let himself drift off to sleep.

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Ginger: Aww.... slightly fluffy ending..... it's going to get better though I promise.... There will be bloody murders, and demon heads will roll, and Tsuzuki will eventually get better.... oops... I"m kinda spoiling this aren't I? Anyway, thanks for reading guys!


	4. A trip to the library of hell and back

Disclaimer: I don't own Hisoka or Tsuzuki, so what else is new?

Ginger: I'm really tired at 4 a.m. so I'm just going to keep it short and simple. The usual. Thanks to the people reading this, if you like it leave a review, if you don't..... why the hell are you on chapter four, and leave your thoughts to yourself.

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"Hisoka, Hisoka, come now, wake up."

Hisoka grumbled slightly as he felt a large hand gently shake his shoulder.

"Hisoka, time to go home."

But he wouldn't get up. He curled up even closer to Tsuzuki.

"Maybe you should take him home Alistair." Tsuzuki said softly.

"But he seems so comfortable with you." Hisoka heard Alistair sigh.

It sounded like he was standing just to the side of the bed.

"I believe I've figured out why you're so ill." Alistair said.

Hisoka tried his best not to tense up. He didn't want the two men to know that he was awake, he wanted to know why Tsuzuki was so sick.

"Really?"

"But first you have to tell me how you were hurt." Alistair said.

Hisoka could hear the chair creak slightly which meant Alistair must have been sitting in it.

Hisoka remembered the incident.

They had been chasing the killer. The murderer. He had looked human. But it was quite obvious he wasn't. The small man dodged Hisoka's bullets, and flew past Tsuzuki's defenses. Before either of them had a chance to react, Tsuzuki was on the ground, with claw marks across his chest and the killer had disappeared.

Hisoka had rushed over to him, and tried to help him up. But Tsuzuki couldn't move, he was practically paralyzed with a sudden fever that had him burning up and gasping for breath. In the end Hisoka had sat in the grass cradling Tsuzuki's head in his lap, whispering reassurances until Tatsumi had arrived and helped him get Tsuzuki back to Meifu.

After Tsuzuki's explanation there was silence until Alistair finally spoke.

"I believe the one who scratched you was Machitehew. He's an obnoxious low end demon, and not one of Lucifer's best idea's. He has a taste for blood, and he wants power, but he's usually too stupid to achieve it. His claws emit poison. That's why you're so ill. That poison has been running through you making it practically impossible for you to heal."

"Then how do we….. Stop it?" Tsuzuki asked slowly.

"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea. But you have to give me time Tsuzuki. It's obvious you won't die. The poison can't kill you since you're already dead. But, you're going to have to suffer a little bit longer. I wish I could solve the problem now but….."

"I can wait Alistair. Anything to be able to go back home with Hisoka." Tsuzuki said honestly.

Hisoka felt a warm feeling knowing that Tsuzuki would suffer for however long it took Alistair to find a cure if it meant he could go back home with Hisoka.

"I best get him home Asato," said Alistair.

Hisoka heard the chair creak again as Alistair stood up from the chair.

"Just make sure he doesn't get hurt Alistair."

"I wouldn't dream of letting such a thing happen." said Alistair.

Hisoka suddenly let out a squeak of surprise when he felt Alistair lift him off the bed.

"So you were awake the entire time were you?" Alistair asked, smiling down at him.

Hisoka blushed bright red as he sat in Alistair's arms.

But Alistair just chuckled and set Hisoka on his usual spot on his shoulder.

"You're like Watari's little owl." Tsuzuki said with a smile.

"I told Mr. Tatsumi that I enjoy being the one looking down instead of up." Hisoka said with a smile. Then his smile faded a little. "Are you sure you'll be alright Tsuzuki?"

"Yes Hisoka. I'll be alright, so please don't worry about me, try your best to help Alistair."

"I will Tsuzuki. Promise. Anything to get you better, faster."

"Then I'll hold you to that Hisoka." said Tsuzuki with a weak smile. "Now you two best get home, it's getting late."

"Goodnight Tsuzuki." said Hisoka, wanting to give Tsuzuki a hug, but somewhat nervous about trying to hop off of Alistair's shoulders.

But as if sensing what he wanted, Alistair had lifted him up and set him on the floor.

Hisoka leaned over and gave Tsuzuki a strong hug, feeling the warm, loving emotions come flooding over him.

"Goodnight Tsuzuki." he said softly.

"Goodnight Hisoka." said Tsuzuki returning the hug.

After they had let go, Alistair lifted Hisoka back onto his shoulder.

"Get some rest Asato. We shall try and come visit you in the morning." said Alistair with a fatherly smile.

"Night guys."

After one last good bye, Alistair turned and they walked towards the door.

Hisoka felt rather strange as he leaned over to get them through the door, because normally he'd never duck to get through the door.

A strange shock on Hisoka's arm made him yelp and jump, hitting his head on the doorframe.

Alistair and Tsuzuki burst out laughing.

"That was cruel." Hisoka muttered, rubbing the back of his head as they left the room.

"Now you know how I feel." Alistair said with a smile.

Hisoka just sighed, resting his elbow on top of Alistair's head, and resting the side of his head on his hand.

"So Tsuzuki was poisoned by a demon huh?" he asked slowly.

"Yes."

"What can stop the poison?"

"Well that's the tough part. The antidote is actually in Machitehew's claws. This basically means we have to find him, kill him, and get the antidote, and that's not easy. While Machitehew is essentially an idiot, he's very good at hiding to the point that Lucifer and I can't find him. We'd have to find a way to lure him out."

"What would that be?"

"Would you mind a trip to Hell and back?" Alistair asked.

Hisoka froze, his muscles tensing, then he looked down at Alistair. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

"I need you're help to lay a trap Hisoka." said Alistair. "It may be the only way to save Tsuzuki."

With those last few words, that's when Hisoka steeled his resolve. "Anything to help Tsuzuki."

"You're very willing, yet you have no clue about what I'm asking you to do."

"I'll do anything for Tsuzuki, because I know he'd do the same for me." said Hisoka honestly.

"This is quite true." Alistair admitted as they walked out of the building. "Hold on tight then."

Hisoka grasped Alistair's vest and shirt tightly as a gust a wind suddenly swirled around them, blowing the Sakura blossoms around to the point that they couldn't see. He closed his eyes tight, his stomach churning with a sense of vertigo. When it finally passed he realized he was no longer smelling fresh air, instead there was a nasty stench of blood and burnt flesh.

Hisoka gagged and nearly fell off of Alistair's shoulder, quickly being caught by a strong grip on his legs.

"Don't fall Hisoka, I want you to stay on my shoulder. I don't want you to get separated by any means." said Alistair.

Hisoka heard a dark tone in Alistair's voice. He opened his eyes to find that they were in a dark world with a red sky, the ground was black sand, and around them was a large wall of stone. In front of them was a black castle covered in spiked towers and red windows. He looked down to find that Alistair's uniform had turned into a set of heavy black, red and blue robes.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Welcome to my kingdom." Alistair said. "Always stay with me Hisoka. Here my barriers and shields can't protect you for a very far distance, and one moment for an empath of your caliber, the pain felt around here will practically destroy you."

"I'll keep that in mind." Hisoka mumbled, looking around. 'So this is Hell.' he thought to himself. 'this isn't exactly what I pictured myself coming here for.'

The grounds were like a nightmare. The black sand had river's of molten lava running through it, there were dead bushes with bare branches planted in designs and to their right was a stick in the ground with a disfigured skull on the top.

"Come now, let's get inside." Alistair said.

Hisoka held on tightly to Alistair's robes as they approached the castle doors.

The large wooden doors opened when they reached the top of the stairs.

"Announcing his dark highness Alistair, King of the demons!" a scratchy voice resonated as they walked inside.

Hisoka could hardly believe the scene before him. The marble tile was blood red with black swirls and there were demons of all sorts, kneeling on either side of the deep blue carpet.

There were small demons, large demons, demons with different colored skin like red and green. Some had horns on their heads, other's had spikes that ran down to the ends of their tails.

But they were all sneering at Hisoka.

Hisoka placed his hand on Alistair's other shoulder, holding on tight enough that his knuckles cracked and turned white.

"Oh look, our dear king brought us a snack." said a human like demon with blue skin and black eyes walking up.

Hisoka tensed up, the heels of his shoes digging into Alistair's chest, his nails digging into the man's shoulders.

The demon reached for him but Alistair caught his hand.

"Touch the boy and you shall end up on the grounds like your brother did Lekus." Alistair snarled, squeezing tight enough that the bones in the demon's hands snapped, making Hisoka cringe at the sickening crunch and squelch that resulted.

"Y… yes your majesty!" he cried.

'He really is intimidating.' Hisoka thought.

Alistair let go and the demon sank to the ground.

"That goes for anyone else here!" Alistair roared deeply, Hisoka feeling the power resonate in his chest.

The demons quickly looked down at the floor.

"Are you alright up there Hisoka?" Alistair asked as they walked through the foyer.

"What are we doing here Mr. Alistair?" he asked.

"I need something out of my library." he said. Then he paused and whirled around. "Has anyone seen Machitehew?!" he barked.

Everyone remained silent.

"If I find that anyone is harboring any information on Machitehew's whereabouts so help them I shall find out and I will have their head! So speak up now or suffer the consequences of their head joining Laskus's lonely skull on the castle grounds and their body being everyone's next meal!"

Hisoka felt himself begin to shake slightly at the dark growl coming from Alistair. He didn't like seeing the sudden change in the man.

"Master." one demon finally spoke up.

"Kasukus! You're one of Machitehew's closest friends, do you have any idea what he's been up to?" Alistair barked at a green skinned demon with spikes on his tail.

"If I recall Master I have not seen Machitehew in the last three cycles of the bloody moon." the demon said.

Hisoka could see him physically shaking as Alistair walked over and looked down at him.

"When was the last time you have seen him?"

"The half moon Master. He claimed he was searching for the man that Duke Astaroth wants as the next Dragon Knight Brigadier. He said he wanted to kill the human. I advised him against it, knowing only that the human had the strength enough to destroy Sir Segantanas. But as always he would not listen Sire and he left. I have not seen him sense."

"Unusually honest as always Kasukus. That is why you're one of my favorite subordinates." said Alistair. Then he turned on another demon. "What about you Teskali?"

The demon said nothing.

"It's his head or yours, you know that." Alistair snarled.

"Yes sir."

"Teskali, look at me." Alistair said sternly.

The demon looked up.

"Now look me in the eye and tell me if you know where Machitehew is."

"I.. have not seen him nor heard from him master."

Hisoka saw it. He could see through the demon's lie.

There was a pause and a twitch of the demon's face, and a lying look in his eyes.

"He's lying." said Hisoka quietly.

"Teskali, care to try a different answer?" Alistair said sternly.

"I will not be deemed a liar by a mere human boy!" Teskali spat making Hisoka jump and cling tightly to Alistair.

"This mere human boy is the only one that will save your head if tells me whether or not you're being truthful with me." Alistair snarled, pulling a large broadsword out of it's sheath that had been attached to a belt hidden in his robes. He pressed the flat side of the tip against the demon's chin, the point of the blade pressing into it's green skin on it's throat. "Shall we try this again Teskali?"

"I know nothing of Machitehew's whereabouts." the demon said again.

Hisoka saw the signs again. "He's a terrible liar." he said softly, not wanting to know what was about to happen because of his answer.

"Stupid human!" the demon snarled.

And in one quick move Alistair sliced off the demon's head, black blood splattering everywhere, the head rolling across the floor, the body slumping to the ground in a pool of ink like blood.

Hisoka began to shake in fear when he saw Alistair suddenly change.

His skin became dark, his eyes a glowing amber, and a set of interlocking fangs appearing in place of his mouth.

Hisoka was suddenly debating on jumping off of Alistair's shoulder and running because the fear he was feeling was intense. But he stayed for two reasons, one: he was practically paralyzed from the fear. Number two: he had no where to run, he was trapped in hell.

"Let that be a lesson to anyone who dares to lie to me!" Alistair roared, blood dripping off the blade. "His head shall be placed with Laskus's on the grounds. As for the rest of him, dinner is served!"

He turned around and Hisoka shut his eyes tightly, burying his face in his arms that were resting on the top of Alistair's head.

Behind them, Hisoka could hear growling and snarling as demon's fought over the body.

"I'm sorry you had to be involved in that Hisoka." said Alistair softly as they walked up a large staircase.

Hisoka said nothing, he just kept his face hidden and he felt a heavy sigh from Alistair.

He heard the creaking of more doors before Alistair finally said. "It's quite alright Hisoka, you can look up now."

After a moment's hesitation Hisoka looked up to find that they were surrounded by shelves upon shelves of books.

"Welcome to the second largest library of Hell, the largest belonging to Lucifer of course." he said walking over to a shelf. "Do me a favor Hisoka, I need you to grab a book off that shelf above you. It's about three inches thick and a warn green cover. There are hints of gold lettering, but other then that, there's no longer a title."

Hisoka looked up and found the only book that resembled the one that Alistair was talking about. He then reached up and pulled it off the shelf before handing it to Alistair.

"Perfect. Now let's get out of here before any more head's roll across the marble foyer." Alistair sighed.

With another random gust of wind, they disappeared from the library, and when the sense of vertigo cleared once again, he was surprised to find that they were now in Hisoka's bedroom.

Alistair lifted Hisoka off of his shoulders and set him on the floor.

"I like your uniform much better." he said honestly. "And don't change like that again please, you really freaked me out."

"I apologize Hisoka. I didn't mean to frighten you. But congratulations, you just survived you're first trip to the demon palace of Hell. Now go to bed Hisoka, it's late and we've got a very long day ahead of us."

Hisoka just stood still for a moment as Alistair got ready to walk out of the room.

"Mr. Alistair?" he asked slowly, clenching his fists at his sides.

Alistair turned and gave him a curious look. "Yes Hisoka?"

"I know…. I know that this is going to sound really childish but….. Can…. Can I sleep with you again tonight?" he asked slowly.

Alistair gave him a kind smile. "Of course Hisoka. If it makes you feel better." he said. Then he walked out of the room.

Hisoka popped off his shoes before quickly running after Alistair who had already sprawled himself out on the large bed.

Feeling somewhat awkward, but not wanting to be left alone, Hisoka crawled under the blanket that he had used the night before, and rested his head on the pillow.

But Alistair said nothing, leaving Hisoka feeling an awkward silence as he starred at the ceiling.

After nearly ten minutes Alistair softly asked, "can't sleep can you?"

"No." he said honestly.

"Would you like to know a trick? It's something I taught Asato long ago."

"Sure." Hisoka mumbled.

"Alright then. Close your eyes."

Hisoka did so.

"Take a deep breath."

Hisoka slowly took a deep breath, before slowly letting it out, feeling himself relax.

"Now slowly count to ten, taking a deep breath each time. It may sound silly, but trust me, it works."

"One…… two….. Three…." Hisoka began, doing as he was told.

"Very good." said Alistair softly.

"Four….. Five…."

"Halfway there."

He could feel himself begin to get drowsy.

"Six…… seven…."

"Almost there."

"Eight……. Nine…."

"One more."

Hisoka let out a tired yawn. "Ten."

"very good Hisoka. Sweet dreams."

And with that last word from Alistair, Hisoka rolled over and drifted off into a deep peaceful sleep.

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Ginger: a nice beginning, a dark middle, and a cute ending. That works. Anyway, repeating, if you liked it let me know and leave a review and thanks for reading.


	5. Bait, capture and kill

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has anything to do with Yami no Matsuei.

Ginger:Well I'm glad a couple people like this story, I don't need to have tons of reviews but one or two to let me know if I should continue, which I appear to be getting. Thanks guys. Enjoy.

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When Hisoka woke up the next morning he found himself wrapped up in the large red blanket again, but this time the room was empty.

After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he climbed out of the bed and walked out of the room to find Alistair standing at the counter, eating an apple and completely engrossed in the green book they had gotten the night before.

"Mr. Alistair?" he asked slowly.

"Ack!" he cried, jumping up and hitting his head on bottom of the cabinet.

Hisoka chuckled softly. "You're really easy to scare." he said.

"Oh la dee dah." Alistair grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "It's about time you woke up."

"I slept in?" he mumbled, surprised and he scratched the back of his head.

"Yes, and now we need to work." said Alistair.

Hisoka didn't like the tone of Alistair's voice. It sent goose bumps up his arms and made his hair stand on end. "What are we going to do for work today?" he asked slowly.

"We get to work on luring out Machitehew. Doesn't that sound like fun?" Alistair asked with a cruel smile that made Hisoka nervous.

"How…. How do you plan on doing that?"

"Quite simple. We use one of our dear friends as bait. You won't do because he's already seen you. He may be an idiot, but he can recognize people." Alistair sighed, shutting the book. "Come now Hisoka, to the summons bureau."

Hisoka just sighed and got dressed in clean clothes before heading to the Ministry on Alistair's shoulders.

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"And you want me to be what?" Tatsumi asked, starring at them.

The three of them were in the meeting room. Tatsumi was sitting on one side of the table starring at them and Hisoka was sitting on the other side, Alistair standing beside him.

"We need you as bait Seiichiro." said Alistair.

"Bait for what…..?" Tatsumi asked slowly.

"We need someone who can lure out Machitehew." Hisoka explained. "It can't be me, because he'll remember me from when he attacked Tsuzuki, and it can't be Mr. Alistair since well…. Mr. Alistair's his king. So we need a person he's never seen. We were hoping that you'd be willing to help out."

"I'm not going to put my life in danger to lure out some rouge demon." Tatsumi muttered sternly.

"Seiichiro, we need Machitehew. Without him Asato won't recover from his illness." said Alistair.

"I don't understand, why do we need him?"

"Because the reason Tsuzuki is sick is because when Machitehew scratched him, his claws poisoned him." said Hisoka softly. "Without Machitehew we can't help Tsuzuki."

"We need Machitehew's claws. Not only are they the poison, but they can be the cure." said Alistair. "I know you hate seeing Asato suffer just as much as we do Seiichiro, so please help us."

"And Hisoka can't act as bait?" Tatsumi asked.

"He's already risked his life by going with me to the demon palace with me to retrieve something out of my library." said Alistair. "Now it's your turn Seiichiro."

"I have paperwork." Tatsumi said.

"Mr. Tatsumi, I know Tsuzuki's more important to you then paperwork." Hisoka pointed out.

"Hisoka has a point Seiichiro. Besides I would never let Machitehew get close enough to hurt you. You know that."

Tatsumi let out a heavy sigh.

"Please Mr. Tatsumi?" Hisoka begged, trying to imitate Tsuzuki's puppy look the best he could. "If we can just catch Machitehew we'll have the murders solved and Tsuzuki can get better."

"Alright. I guess, I've got no choice in the matter. At least once this is over the case will be closed." Tatsumi muttered. "So then what do I have to do?"

"Ditch the suit for one Seiichiro." said Alistair with a smile. "Machitehew doesn't exactly attack boring looking business men."

Tatsumi turned red and Hisoka chuckled a little.

"So then…"

"Come on, I've got a whole plan in the works." said Alistair with a grin.

"I'll be honest, I'm somewhat terrified to find out what it is." Tatsumi admitted, standing up.

Alistair just laughed as he walked out of the room.

Hisoka and Tatsumi gave each other a slightly worried glance, then they followed the giant out of the room.

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"Do you really think that this will work Mr. Alistair?" Hisoka asked, looking down at Tatsumi who was looking annoyed in a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt.

There were currently walking through the busiest part of Kyushu after buying Tatsumi a set of basic clothes, since Machitehew seemed to enjoy attacking those that look like they have no personal goals in life.

"I'm hoping." Alistair admitted.

"I feel like an idiot." Tatsumi muttered, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably.

"We'll have to take a picture of him to show Tsuzuki." said Hisoka with a grin. "That'll probably make him feel better."

"That's not funny Kurosaki." Tatsumi growled, glaring.

But Hisoka just smiled and rested his forearm on top of Alistair's head.

"Look at it this way, it's either you change your clothes or we try Watari's sex change potion." Alistair pointed out.

Tatsumi's face flared bright red. "I'd prefer to look like a vagabond." he sighed.

"See Mr. Tatsumi, it could be worse." Hisoka said.

"You sure change a lot around certain people, don't you Kurosaki?" Tatsumi asked, looking up at him.

"Tsuzuki and Mr. Alistair bring out the best in me." he said honestly.

"Well you and Mr. Hadrian have always brought out the best in Tsuzuki as well." Tatsumi said. "The two of you actually get him to be responsible."

"Different people have different affects on others." Alistair said.

"Like how you make me act more like a kid my age?" Hisoka asked, looking down at Alistair, swinging his legs a little.

"Exactly." said Alistair. "But Asato makes you feel comfortable and calm. There's a difference."

"Tsuzuki makes me act like I'm his mother." Hisoka sighed with a smile.

"Oh trust me, I get that with him too." Alistair said with a smile as they walked into an empty park. "Hisoka, I'm going to put my barriers down for a little bit, you should be able to sense Machitehew if he's anywhere nearby."

Hisoka tensed up a bit. "Do I want to know what I'm going to feel if I do?" he asked nervously.

"Well it won't be what you're expecting. It should be something like…. Evil intentions that are covered up by a delighted sensation. Machitehew get's a real kick out of hurting mortals. Are you ready?"

Hisoka took a deep breath and nodded, knowing that if he endured feeling the emotions of a demon temporarily, Tsuzuki would be able to get better, faster.

"Okay then, let me know if you feel anything." said Alistair.

Hisoka was hit with the emotions so hard he nearly fell off of Alistair's shoulder. His head was reeling as Alistair grabbed him to keep him steady.

It was there. Off in the distance, on the other side of the park. A dark emotion. Hatred, and bloodlust, coupled with a happiness of hunting for prey.

"It's…. it's over there." Hisoka said shakily, as he motioned to the right of them. "He's far off, but still….."

He slipped off of Alistair's shoulder, and into his arms, shaking from the intense emotion. He felt Alistair put the barrier back up and took a deep breath as he tried to recover from the sudden weakness in his body as he curled up against Alistair's broad chest, gripping the silk vest.

"My head hurts." Hisoka groaned childishly.

He heard Alistair say something to Tatsumi, but he couldn't understand him. Everything sounded muffled as his ears continued ringing. When he could finally regain his bearings, he realized that Alistair was carrying him away.

"Is your head feeling any better Hisoka?" Alistair asked softly.

"A little. Where are we going?"

"To hide in the trees and leave Seiichiro as bait."

Hisoka just let out a somewhat relieved sigh as his head stopped swimming, then he attempted to climb back onto Alistair's shoulder.

"You sure like to sit on my shoulder don't you?" Alistair asked with a tiny smile.

"I feel safer up here." Hisoka admitted.

"So what's going on now?" asked a woman appearing beside Alistair.

Hisoka starred, turning his head to the side, wondering if he was right.

The woman looked like Suzaku in her human form with her fiery red hair and her giant sword.

Then another woman appeared on the other side of them, a woman that Hisoka didn't recognize.

She was the same size as Suzaku, but she had large vampire like fangs, and red eyes that contrasted her white hair and olive skin. She wore an outfit much like Alistair's, but it was red with a dark blue short blazer and she had a broad sword on her hip.

"Suzaku and Sarafi. I should've known the two of you were hanging around each other again." Alistair sighed.

"How could we not?" Sarafi asked with a smile. "We're best friends."

"Besides we haven't seen each other in nearly fifty years." said Suzaku. "It's not like I can visit her in Hell. I'm not allowed there. Of course I'm not complaining."

Hisoka couldn't help but smile a little as Alistair rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"Then if you insist on hanging around, shut up and keep an eye on Tatsumi." he said sternly.

"What for?" Sarafi asked.

"He's the bait for catching Machitehew." said Hisoka.

"Well that's stupid." Sarafi snorted.

"And you're a bitch, now either shut up and help, or get the fuck out of here." Alistair snarled, making Hisoka jump slightly.

"Gladly sire." she growled back. Then she disappeared.

But Suzaku stayed.

"I'll help." she said. "I don't think Tsuzuki would be happy if we let the little demon get to Tatsumi."

Hisoka looked out of the trees to see Tatsumi laying on a bench, dozing off in the afternoon sun. But then he felt it. The dark feelings actually breaching Alistair's barrier.

The sky suddenly got dark and cloudy and thunder crashed over head, a cold wind blowing through the trees.

"He's here." Alistair said darkly.

Sure enough, a small, balding man appeared behind the bench Tatsumi was resting on. He was about to attack when Tatsumi's shadow shield wrapped around him to protect him, surprising the demon enough for Alistair to appear behind him.

Hisoka starred down at the man who was starring up at Alistair in shock.

"Y… your majesty!" he cried in a voice that matched that on nails on a chalk board making Hisoka cringe.

"Hello Machitehew." said Alistair coldly, sending chills up Hisoka's spine. "Have you heard the news about your dear friend Teskali?"

"N…no sir…. What has he done?" the demon asked, his little black eyes darting around as if looking for a way out.

"His head has joined Laskus's head on my castle grounds for protecting you."

"Protecting me…. W… what have I done sire?"

Alistair reached out and took the man by the throat. "You attacked my friend Machitehew. You should have known better after what happened to Laskus when he attacked Roderick. Now then, shall we return home?"

Hisoka held onto Alistair's shirt tightly as the wind whipped around them. In his mind he admitted to himself that he would prefer to stay behind with Tatsumi, but it seemed he had no choice. When his stomach settled and his head stopped spinning, he found he was back in Hell.

Alistair walked them up to the castle doors, dragging Machitehew by the neck, the man now in the form of a little black skinned demon in red clothes.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this place." Hisoka mumbled, feeling nervous.

"I wouldn't want you to." said Alistair as they walked into the mostly empty foyer.

There was one demon in a knight's uniform like Sarafi's and Hisoka recognized him as Kasukus. The one who told them what Machitehew had been up to.

"Kasukus! Tell them I'm innocent please!" Machitehew begged.

"No Machitehew." said Kasukus softly. "I warned you against trying to attack Asato Tsuzuki. I told you he was close to King Alistair. You were the foolish one and I will not defend you."

"Can demon's be good people Mr. Alistair?" Hisoka asked, looking at Kasukus in curiosity.

"It's a rarity, but yes. Kasukus here is an example of a good demon." said Alistair.

"You traitor Kasukus!" Machitehew growled.

"I'm not a traitor Machitehew, you are. I'm faithful to our king who gives me a decent life, ignoring the fact that I'm a monster like you." said Kasukus. Then he looked up at Hisoka and smiled a little. "Welcome back Master Hisoka. I feel terrible that you've had to come here on two not-so-happy occasions."

"I'd say thank you, but I don't know if that's the right response." said Hisoka strangely, scratching the back of his head.

"Quite understandable sir. You're a good human soul, you shouldn't actually have to visit here." Kasukus pointed out.

"I can't believe you're calling a human Master, Kasukus!" Machitehew spat.

"Human's aren't bad Machitehew." said Kasukus. "You just think they are."

"I…" Machitehew began, but he was cut off with a strangled cry and Alistair tightened his grip on his throat.

"Come now Machitehew. You were stupid enough to poison my friend, and you know that the consequences are for that." said Alistair with a cold look and a dark tone.

Hisoka was surprised when Alistair lifted him off of his shoulders.

"Kasukus, keep a close eye on Hisoka and guard him with your life." said Alistair.

Hisoka felt rather strange to be placed on the demon's shoulders like a child.

"I will Sire." said Kasukus professionally. Then he looked up at Hisoka, with a smile. "I would ask if you'd like a snack master, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to eat anything we have in our kitchen."

"I'm pretty sure I wouldn't." Hisoka muttered, wrinkling his nose a bit. Then he looked up at Alistair. "Please hurry Mr. Alistair. I don't want to be here any longer then I have to be."

"I understand Hisoka." said Alistair kindly.

But Hisoka realized that Machitehew saw that as an opportunity.

"Alistair!" he cried, but it was too late.

Machitehew had pulled out a hidden dagger and had sliced the side of Alistair's arm, making him let go.

"Machitehew you fool!" Kasukus barked, trying to block Machitehew with his spear.

But Machitehew took a swipe causing Kasukus to loose balance and fall, sending Hisoka tumbling across the floor.

Hisoka sat up with a grimace, a sharp pain running through his right shoulder which he landed on when he fell off of Kasukus's shoulders. He looked up and let out a gasp as he tried to scramble to his feet when he saw Machitehew charging for him, but his shoes just continued to slip on the marble.

Right as Machitehew stood above him, he was suddenly thrown to the side with so much force pieces of stone came off the wall he slammed into.

"Machitehew! Do you plan on having a painful death?!" Alistair barked, as he nursed the huge gash on his arm.

Hisoka jumped up and ran over to Alistair.

"Mr. Alistair, are you alright?" he asked, trying to look at the cut.

"I'll be fine Hisoka." said Alistair, pulling his arm away.

Kasukus came to stand with Hisoka as Alistair marched over to Machitehew who was slumped over on the floor.

"I get the feeling this isn't going to end well." said Kasukus softly.

Hisoka got an overwhelming feeling of dread as Alistair reached down to pick Machitehew off the floor.

"Mr. Alistair……" he mumbled. Then he saw the twitch in Machitehew's hands. "Mr. Alistair move!" he cried, running over and knocking Alistair to the floor in time for them both to avoid Machitehew's long poisoned claws.

"Stupid human!" Machitehew growled. "Any demon that cares about human's should die!"

Hisoka managed to jump out of the way as Machitehew charged at him again.

Kasukus rushed to try and stop him but Machitehew knocked him to the floor where Kasukus used his long spear's handle to hit Machitehew's legs, causing him to fall and give Hisoka time to run.

But Hisoka suddenly felt trapped. He could feel where Alistair's barrier ended, being able to faintly feel the emotions of pain on the other side of it.

"Can't move now can you?" Machitehew laughed.

"Leave the boy alone Machitehew!" Alistair growled in warning.

But Machitehew ignored him and went after Hisoka.

Hisoka looked around frantically, he was essentially trapped with no where to go. He wouldn't dare go past Alistair's barrier, and if that was true, he was stuck in a corner. He braced himself for the pain, squeezing his eyes tight.

But it never came. Instead he heard a gasp and a gargled cough.

Hisoka looked up to see Machitehew's claws an inch away from his face stopped only because his arm wasn't long enough to reach him after going through the center of Alistair's lower rib cage.

"Alistair!"

"Master Alistair!"

Hisoka felt helpless as Alistair sank to his knees, coughing up blood.

Machitehew looked at his claws. "Red blood? As in…. can it be? Human blood in the demon king?"

Hisoka leaned forward to try and help Alistair who shoved him away.

'He's as stubborn as Tsuzuki when it comes to help.' Hisoka thought to himself. But he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Machitehew's nasty laugh.

"The demon king has human blood! How marvelous! All the more reason for the rest of the demons to hate you!" he laughed.

Alistair attempted to stand, coughing up more blood, but obviously holding his own.

Hisoka was caught off guard when someone pulled him away to the side. He looked up to find that he was being pulled a few feet away by Kasukus.

"Let's not get into the middle of this Master Hisoka. This is becoming personal." Kasukus warned.

"You're so weak!" Machitehew laughed, kicking Alistair in the stomach making him fall again. "Let's see, if you have human blood, does that mean……. that you have a human heart?" he asked, looking at his claws.

Alistair let out a strangled cry as Machitehew's clawed hand sank deep into his chest.

"Alistair!" Hisoka cried, trying to get free of Kasukus's grasp. "Kasukus! Please let me go!" he begged.

"No Master. I promised Master Alistair that I would protect you at all costs, and that is what I shall do." said Kasukus sternly holding Hisoka back.

Hisoka's eyes filled with tears, as he could only watch his new friend be tortured, while Machitehew took hold of his heart.

"What would happen if I ripped out your heart my dear king?" he sneered as Alistair gasped from the pain, a pool of blood getting larger beneath them. "Would you die like a human? Or would you turn into one of us?"

Hisoka felt his emotions begin to overwhelm him. He had already let this demon hurt Tsuzuki, his closest and dearest friend, leaving him feeling helpless. He couldn't go though it again. "Let me go Kasukus!" Hisoka growled, steeling his resolve. He finally pulled free and grabbed Kasukus's abandoned long spear of the ground. Before anyone else knew what had happened, Hisoka had plunged the blade deep into Machitehew's side.

Machitehew growled as he pulled his hand out of Alistair's chest, letting the gentle giant slump to the floor in a pool of red blood. He took a swipe at Hisoka, who blocked the claws with the spear.

"Meddling human! I shall get rid of you just like I got rid of your friend. You can die a slow painful death!"

"One slow painful death was enough for me thanks. I'd prefer not to do it again." Hisoka shot back. "But I refuse to let you hurt any more of my friends!" He swung the spear around and caught Machitehew in the chest with the handle, hitting him hard and slamming him into the floor. "You already hurt Tsuzuki and Mr. Alistair! I promised Tsuzuki that I'd do anything to help him get better and if that means killing you then I will!" Hisoka threatened, raising the spear. But he froze when he heard a rustling noise behind him. Then he felt a large hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Alistair standing behind him, his eyes glowing dark amber with hints of red, his white hair red with blood, and his mismatched wings stretched out behind him.

"That's my job Hisoka." he wheezed. "You have enough blood on your hands child. You don't need his as well."

"Mr. Alistair?"

Alistair gently moved him to the side before grabbing Machitehew off of the floor and bringing him up to eye level.

"Human heart or not Machitehew, I'm still your king!" he snarled, extending ten very long, sharp claws, his regular teeth turning into fangs. "I have no problem in killing you for the lives of the ones that I hold dear to me."

Machitehew gasped and coughed up black blood when Alistair sank his five long claws into his chest.

"It hurts doesn't it?" Alistair asked, a cruel smile on his face, twisting his hand and making his claws dig deeper into the demon's chest. "Now it's your turn to suffer."

Hisoka shut his eyes tight and turned away when he heard an animalistic roar and a terrible scream rip through the large foyer, the sound ringing in his ears as he sank to the floor, shaking from the dark emotions that came flooding into him. He heard a sickening squelch accompany a soft thud. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see Machitehew's head at Alistair's feet. Then he looked up to see Alistair wipe black liquid away from his mouth before spitting black and red blood onto the marble floor, the new puddle matching the tile.

Suddenly the body and the head wilted and turned into dust leaving just the ten bloodied claws.

Hisoka tried to stand, but he stumbled from the headache he was suddenly suffering from.

"Mr. Alistair?" he mumbled, a hand to his head as he tried to take a step.

Alistair turned to give him a kind smile, then he fell to the floor, in the pool of blood

"Mr. Alistair!" Hisoka cried, trying to rush over to him. He fell to his knees, ignoring the pain that it caused when he hit the hard marble. It felt like déjà vu as he tried to help Alistair to move a little. "Please Mr. Alistair, I don't know how to help you, you can't leave me too." he cried, shutting his eyes tight, tears falling onto Alistair's face. "I can't loose you and Tsuzuki!"

He was surprised when he felt a warm touch on his cheek.

He looked down to see Alistair looking up at him. "I'm sorry Hisoka. I can get you home, but that's about all I have left in me. Kasukus can help make the antidote for Asato, but I think my time as the demon king and the second master of death is over." he whispered, wheezing slightly.

"No, no! I can't just loose one of the few friends I have in life!" Hisoka protested.

"As Machitehew said, I have a human heart and if I loose that heart, I die like a human. It's about to give out Hisoka."

Hisoka gripped Alistair's robes tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"You can't heal yourself?" he asked softly.

"Unfortunately no." Alistair admitted sadly. "See, you can because you're dead. Technically speaking I'm not. But once I'm gone, my soul is too."

"You can't go! I don't have enough people in my life that make me feel as comfortable as Tsuzuki does! I just…. I fought with Tsuzuki over dying once! Please Mr. Alistair!" he said sadly, his soft crying turning into uncontrollable sobbing.

"Come now Hisoka, it's time for you to return home." Alistair whispered, gently grasping Hisoka's hand on his shoulder.

Before Hisoka could say anything the wind whipped around them.

But instead of a gentle landing as usual, they were both thrown to the ground.

Hisoka sat up and looked around, realizing they were back in the summons department. In the meeting room to be more precise. But it was dark, the lights were off. He rubbed the sore spot on his head for a moment. But then he froze realizing that Alistair was no longer beside him. He started searching around the room, crawling on the floor, feeling his way around in the dark. But his hand finally felt something warm and sticky. After a moment, he realized his hand was in a puddle of blood. A little more searching and he found Alistair's arm.

"Mr. Alistair?" he asked softly.

But there was no response.

"Mr. Alistair please wake up!" he begged, reaching up on the wall to find the light switch. He felt blinded for a moment when the light came on, then he looked down at Alistair who was sprawled out on the floor, blood continuing to pool. When he looked closer, he found that Alistair was still breathing. So he jumped up and ran out of the room too find help.

The first door he came to was Tatsumi's office. He wasn't sure if Tatsumi had returned from the world of the living yet, but he figured it was worth a try. He opened the door quickly and found Tatsumi sitting at his desk talking with Watari.

"Kurosaki you're back!" Tatsumi said with a smile. But then he frowned. "What happened?! Why are you covered in blood?!"

Hisoka looked down to realize that he was completely covered in Alistair's blood.

"Mr. Tatsumi, Mr. Watari! Come quick please?!" he begged, trying to pull Tatsumi with him. "Mr. Alistair's dying!"

Hisoka got them to follow him to the meeting room where Alistair was still unconscious on the floor.

"Watari, go get help from the medical facility!" Tatsumi said urgently. Then he looked at Hisoka who was trying to stop Alistair's heart from bleeding with his jacket. "Kurosaki what happened?"

"That demon attacked Mr. Alistair. But unless we help him now he won't make it." Hisoka said urgently. "I can't…. I can't come this close to loosing him too!"

Just then Watari returned with help and Hisoka soon found himself lost in the confusion.

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Ginger: ooh, interesting chapter.... it'll still end happy.... maybe.....


	6. Hopeless, helpless, waiting

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has anything to do with Yami no Matsuei.

Ginger:Okay one tiny chapter, there'll be a bigger one up later tonight. I just wanted to get this one out before I headed to my math class, I hope you guys don't mind it. Thanks for reading though!

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It had been almost two days and Hisoka never went home. He sat in between Tsuzuki in his hospital bed, and Alistair in a larger makeshift one. Every day and every night, Hisoka sat in the chair between the two beds, constantly starring down at Alistair's pair of blood stained glasses in his hand.

Neither Alistair nor Tsuzuki had woken up in two days. Tsuzuki was stricken with a sudden fever that had him constantly drenched in a cold sweat and gasping for air in the middle of the night. Alistair just never moved, or made any sort of noise, it was as if he truly was dead.

And in two days Kasukus had yet to give him an antidote leaving Hisoka sitting there, feeling hopeless and helpless.

It was getting late as Hisoka drifted off to sleep in the chair, Angela in his lap, the glasses in his hand. But he jumped a bit, slightly startled when he heard a soft rustling sound. He looked down to see that Angela was asleep, laying down on the front of her cover, then he looked to the left and to the right.

Tsuzuki and Alistair appeared to be perfectly still.

"It was just my imagination." he sighed. But then he looked up and saw something on the small table by the window. He stood up and gently set down Angelica so he wouldn't wake her, then he went over and found an ornate glass bottle on the table with blue and red pulled glass swirled around it. He picked it up to find it full of silver liquid, then he looked down to see a note on a piece of parchment paper.

'Master Hisoka, this is the antidote for Machitehew's poison. Have your friend drink half of the bottle, and have Master Alistair drink the other half. After this, they should recover from the poison in their bodies within a couple of days. Take care Master Hisoka,

Kasukus."

Hisoka quickly pulled out the glass stopper and he found that it had a fruity scent to it. He walked over to Tsuzuki and helped him sit up enough to pour a little bit of the liquid into his mouth. He felt relieved when Tsuzuki swallowed instead of coughing it up.

After several minutes of slowly pouring a tiny bit at a time, Tsuzuki had finished off half the bottle, and Hisoka gently placed his head back down on the pillow before pulling the blanket up to his chin.

"I sure hope this works." He muttered to himself as he smoothed the wrinkles out of the top of the blanket, gently patting Tsuzuki's chest. Then he turned to give Alistair what was left in the bottle. "I hope only half is enough considering how big he is." he sighed.

With a bit more effort then with Tsuzuki, Hisoka lifted Alistair's head and poured only a couple of drops, unsure if he was able to swallow like Tsuzuki.

But instead the drops just sat in his mouth. He didn't cough anything up, but he didn't swallow it either.

"He won't be able to swallow it Master Hisoka."

Hisoka jumped, he didn't realize that Angelica had woken up.

"What do I do if he can't swallow it Angelica?" he asked softly.

"You'll have to just pour it into the open wound."

"But…. How will that help? He'd just bleed it out instead of it circulating through his body." Hisoka pointed out.

"You'd basically be pouring it directly into his heart. Just trust me master."

Hisoka felt somewhat apprehensive about doing something like pouring the antidote directly into Alistair's chest. But he let out a heavy sigh and pulled back the blanket before peeling back the bloody bandage that covered Alistair's heart. He tried his best not to gag at the sight.

The wound hadn't even begun to heal, instead it was turning black around the edges from the poisonous infection as blood slowly continued to seep through.

Hisoka shut his eyes tight, then willed himself to open them.

"Just pour it inside the wound Master Hisoka." said Angelica. "Everything that's left in the bottle."

Hisoka did as he was told and poured the liquid into the wound, watching it mix with the red blood. "I suppose we should probably put a new bandage over it." he said, walking over to the medicine cabinets and pulling out several fresh gauze pads. But when he walked back over to Alistair, he was surprised to see that the black infected skin was gone.

"Is it already starting to help him?" Angelica asked.

"It appears that way." Hisoka said honestly as he threw away the old bandages and taped on clean ones. "Let's just hope they both wake up soon." he sighed as he washed his hands. After he dried his hands he walked over to Tsuzuki's bed and laid down beside him, curling up against him, wrapping his arm around his waist and resting his head on his chest. "His breathing's evened out."

"That means it's working." Angelica said. "Now get some sleep Master Hisoka."

"I plan on it." Hisoka yawned, hugging Tsuzuki tightly. Then he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Hisoka never noticed the small smile on Tsuzuki's face as he wrapped his arms around the boy's small frame in a loving embrace.


	7. Time to wake up and return to normal

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has anything to do with Yami No Matsuei. Whatever....

Ginger: Okay, I think I'm going to end this with a short happy chapter that has a ting of curiosity as I leave everyone in the dark, but there will be a sequel of sorts! I promise! I hope you guys enjoyed this and decide to read the sequel when I post it. Thanks for reading! Oh!The sequel's up! 'It's called a summer of chances', and it's something of a cross over with my Code Geass stories. Weird sounding a know, but you'll understand why it fits if you read it, and I hope you guys do! Thanks!

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When Hisoka woke up the next morning he was happy to find himself curled up against Tsuzuki as the sun began to shine through the windows. He just let out a soft sigh as he snuggled closer. But he jumped a bit when he felt a flood of warm emotions come over him meaning….

"Tsuzuki! You're awake!" he gasped happily, looking up at his partner.

Tsuzuki smiled at him, the sparkle back in his beautiful violet eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Hisoka asked with a smile, sitting up, hugging his knees to his chest beside Tsuzuki.

"A bit tired, but that's about it. I don't feel like anything else is wrong." Tsuzuki admitted with a shrug, sitting up slowly. "Or was wrong for that matter."

"Good. I was getting worried." Hisoka admitted. Then he looked over to see that Alistair had at least shifted in his sleep to where he now had his arm stretched under his pillow. "And at least Mr. Alistair has finally budged so we know he's alive."

"I'm amazed he would let himself be killed so easily. That just doesn't seem like him."

"Oh, yet it makes perfect sense for you." Hisoka sighed sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Idiot."

"Yes, but I'm your idiot." Tsuzuki pointed out.

Hisoka couldn't help but smile with another sigh. "Yeah, you're my idiot." he said honestly. "Don't you ever forget that either."

Tsuzuki chuckled softly and Hisoka felt a peacefulness come of him that he hadn't felt since Tsuzuki had first been hurt.

"I feel at peace finally." Hisoka said with a smile.

"That's good Hisoka." said Tsuzuki with a honest smile. "When you feel at peace, that's when we have nothing to really worry about."

"Either that or Mr. Alistair had regained enough consciousness to mess around with my empathic abilities and emotions."

"I doubt it." Tsuzuki said with a smile. "You felt my emotions didn't you? That's how you knew I was awake."

"I guess you've got a point." He admitted. "But either way I'm glad you're finally up."

"I am too, this means that I can leave and go home sooner." Tsuzuki admitted.

Hisoka just smiled and pounced on Tsuzuki in a hug with a laugh. "It's about time too." he said, tightening his grip on the man's neck.

Tsuzuki gladly returned the embrace.

Hisoka felt so comfortable, he didn't want to move. But then he heard a loud rustling in the bed next to them.

Both of them turned to see that the bed that Alistair had originally been laying in, was empty.

"Hey! Where'd Mr. Alistair go?" Hisoka asked, standing up and walking over to the bed. He touched the sheets to discover that they felt cold, as if no one had been sleeping in the bed in the first place. He couldn't even catch a hint of emotional or spiritual residue left in the bed. He now felt completely bewildered, and he could tell Tsuzuki felt the same way.

"Wow, that's….. strange." Tsuzuki muttered as Hisoka sat back down beside him. "I've never known him to just up and disappear like that."

"Oh well, maybe it just means he's fine and he went back to his own job." Hisoka admitted, hoping he was right. "But at least that means our lives can return to normal."

Tsuzuki chuckled. "There's no such thing as a normal life for us Hisoka. You know that."

"I suppose I do." Hisoka admitted. He also had to admit that he was glad he met Alistair, he had taught him how to smile when Tsuzuki couldn't be around him, and he had shown Hisoka what it meant to feel like a child occasionally. It was a feeling he never wanted to loose. He smiled. "Hey Tsuzuki, how about I go get us some donuts to share?"

At that, Tsuzuki gave him the puppy dog look. "Chocolate frosting with sprinkles?" he asked hopefully.

Hisoka laughed as he stood up. "Anything you want Tsuzuki."

"Since when do you offer to get me donuts anyway Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked, suddenly curious.

Hisoka just turned and gave him a small smile. "Since I'm relieved that my lovable idiot's going to be okay." he said. Then he left to go get Tsuzuki donuts with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

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Tsuzuki eventually recovered completely and Hisoka was glad to have his partner and best friend back in the bedroom across the hall and at the desk next to his. The days returned to their normal clockwork, but every once in a while Hisoka couldn't help but wonder just what had happened to Alistair as he would glance out at the same Sakura trees he had been staring at the day they had met. But then Tsuzuki would bring him out of his thoughts with a childish whine, and instead of getting grumping, Hisoka found himself smiling constantly and shaking his head at his best friend's behavior.

Life was normal again, and Hisoka couldn't have been happier.

Or could he?

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Ginger: hmmm..... short ending. Oh well I'm glad a few people have enjoyed this story. I hope you guys continue to read! Thanks!


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